Twelve suspected illegal immigrants have been detained by police after being found at a food preparation factory in Dover.

Officers were called to Tilmanstone Salads factory at an industrial estate on the outskirts of Dover at 9.22am following reports of a 'suspicious group' in the area.

A police helicopter was also scrambled and could be seen hovering overhead as ground officers entered the site.

Scroll down for video

Officers were called to Tilmanstone Salads factory (pictured), at an industrial estate on the outskirts of Dover, at 9.22am following reports of a 'suspicious group' in the area. They detained 12 suspected illegal immigrants

It comes after a group of suspected illegal immigrants were found in the back of a refrigerated yogurt lorry in Whitfield, near Dover in Kent, less than a week ago. They were found after banging on the door in a bid for help

Kent Police said 12 people were detained and handed over to the Home Office immigration enforcement team.

Bakkavor, which owns the food preparation site, was unable to confirm how the group of people came to be on the site.

A spokesman said: 'Bakkavor confirms that a group of unauthorised individuals entered its Tilmanstone Salads site today.

Share this article

The Tilmanstone Salads factory, which opened in 2001, employees around 750 workers and supplies in freshly prepared salads and vegetables to market leaders.

On its website, Bakkavor says it ‘specialises in making and developing private label prepared foods for the top global grocery retailers and well-known international foodservice operators’.

It lists Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco, Asda and Sainbsury’s among its clients.

Earlier this month, crowds attempted to overpower officials and machine-gun wielding police in an attempt to board a Britain-bound P&O ferry in Calais, France. Ferry crews eventually had to pull a fire hose on them to stop

The detainees are the latest group to be held recently amid concerns from the British freight industry about migrants' ever-more-desperate attempts to reach the UK from Calais.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has called for the European Union to bring in stricter border controls to deal with what it describes as a 'worsening situation'.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people have signed an e-petition demanding the UK Government help solve the problems faced by British truckers.

They want fines of up to £2,000 per migrant, which are imposed on lorry drivers and hauliers if stowaways are caught hiding inside their vehicles, to be scrapped.